On Wednesday 17 December, Sarah Cumbers, RSS Chief Executive, gave oral evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry as part of its examination of the UK’s economic response to the pandemic (Module 9).
The Inquiry’s questions focused on how economic statistics performed during the pandemic, the role played by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and how data collection and data sharing is functioning now. In particular, the Inquiry was interested in understanding the roles of administrative data and surveys, barriers to data sharing and how the statistical system might engage with a wider range of users.
In her evidence, drawing on input from RSS members, Sarah emphasised that a number of the challenges exposed during the pandemic, including declining survey response rates and data infrastructure constraints, were long-standing issues that Covid-19 intensified rather than created. She highlighted the speed with which the ONS adapted, including the use of rapid surveys and new data sources, and made the case for embedding these approaches into business-as-usual practice.
In her appearance, Sarah also included the importance of stabilising and protecting core economic statistics, while recognising that resilience requires more than recovery alone. Sarah underlined the need for a clearer, more coherent approach to future economic shocks, improved data sharing across government and developing a more transparent and systematic approach to prioritising the needs of users. She also stressed the value of statistics that better reflect lived experience, pointing to measures such as the Household Costs Indices as an example of how this can be achieved.
If you are interested in reading Sarah’s full evidence to the Inquiry, please read the transcript. The Inquiry has also, today, published the evidence that we submitted for Module 9.
The Society will continue to contribute evidence and expertise to support high-quality, trustworthy statistics that serve the public good.